Treasure Chest
by laughingcat123
Summary: Silence is unheard of in the Potter household, as Ginny tries to determine what really happened in a dispute between James and Lily, with Albus as the only witness. Oh, the joys of Motherhood!


**Disclaimer: I own nothing; Jo owns it all. Unfortunately, that's the way it'll always be folks. Darn.**

Treasure Chest By: laughincat123

Summary: Silence is unheard of in the Potter household, as Ginny tries to determine what really happened in a dispute between James and Lily with Albus as the only witness. Oh, the joys of Motherhood!

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"MUUUUUUUM!"

"MUUUUUMMMYYYY!" came two shrieks from the backyard.

Ginny sighed. She had been inside reading for the past hour. Laughing to herself, Ginny thought that in her family, more than one hour of silence was impossible.

"James? Lily? What's going on out there?" Ginny put down her book on the coffee table as she heard the sounds of two little feet rushing after two larger feet that came pounding in.

"Mummy, James broke my tea set!" Lily exclaimed at the same time James proclaimed, "Lily, ruined mine and Al's sandcastle!"

Ginny looked at her eldest son's scowl and her only daughter's pout, "Now, come on you two, tell me what really happened. And where is your brother?"

James and Lily glared at each other, and began to try to communicate to their mother what actually happened.

James began, "Al's still out back trying to fix what's left of our castle that Lily destroyed!" he finished with a glare towards his little sister.

"I didn't destroy anything! Your stupid castle deserved what it got after what you did to my tea set you big dummy!" Lily shot back with tear-filled eyes.

Frustration radiated from James, "I did not! Lily started it anyway, she—"

Lily wouldn't let James finish, "Ladies don't start fights." She then stuck her nose in the air

Ginny fought to keep the smile off her face as James states, "Well, it's not like you're a lady or anything!"

She ignored her brother. "But they sure can finish them!" she growls as she launches herself at her older brother.

"Gerroffme!" James grunts as he stumbles to his knees. Ginny's smile dropped.

"Lily Luna Potter!" Ginny says in a menacing voice that would make her mother proud, "We absolutely never use violence in this household as an answer to our problems. Do you hear me?"

Lily stood back up looking ashamed. "I'm sorry Mummy, but he deserved it!"

"I'm not the one you should apologize to. Now someone tell me what really happened outside or no dessert for either of you tonight!"

"I'm sorry for hitting you, James," says Lily while looking at her shoes, shocked that her Mum would ever pull the dessert card. That was way too low.

"Yeah, yeah," James replied, his pride significantly bruised from being tackled by his six-year-old sister, especially now that his chocolate pudding was in jeopardy.

"James Sirius Potter!" Ginny reprimanded.

"Fine! Okay, I'm sorry for saying you weren't a lady!" He amended.

Ginny looked slightly satisfied. "Now one of you go get your brother, perhaps Albus will be able to get everything straightened out."

Lily, eager to get back in her mother's good books, skipped towards the sliding glass door. James rolled his eyes as Lily's red pigtails bobbed after her.

Lily returned with her brother, a slight, raven-haired boy who blinked his large green eyes owlishly up at Ginny, "Yes, Mum?" he asked hesitantly.

Ginny sighed dramatically, "James and Lily here have gotten in a little dispute, as I'm sure you've heard. Could you perhaps give us your take on the event Al?"

Lily looked cross-eyed for a second, her freckles standing out on her pale nose, "Mummy, what's a dispute?"

She responded, "It's means a little fight, honey." Her daughter's confusion vanished.

"Oh!" Lily exclaimed as she unscrunched her little nose. Al gave his sister an exasperated look, as only older brothers can do, before beginning his tale of what really happened in the backyard.

"Well," he started, "First, Lily was having her little tea party with her stuffed toys, James was in the sandbox making something, and I was sitting under the tree reading _Dancing With Dragons_, that book that Uncle Charlie sent me for my birthday you know?" Albus looked cautiously at his brother, who happened to be a lot larger than him for being only one year older. "Then James told me that if I helped him build a castle that looked like Hogwarts, then he wouldn't prank me for two weeks, and that was just too good an offer to let pass, even though my book was really good!" Al had the unfortunate habit of ranting when he was nervous.

James glared at his brother, "You could've left that part out of it, squirt!"

Ginny glanced sternly at James, "We will be having a talk later about that, Mister." She looked back to Albus, "Go on, sweetie."

Al looked slightly disgusted at being called sweetie, as only eight-year-old boys can do, before continuing, "So I went over with James, and then Lily went to go pick flowers or something after pestering James about not playing with her. A few minutes later, James threw that purple bucket at my head, but missed. But it hit Lily's tea table instead, which knocked the teapot to the ground. It really was an accident, and James went over there to try to fix it! So when Lily came back, she saw the teapot with James standing over it, got mad, and then went to stomp all over mini-Hogwarts." He finished and after saying all of that rather quickly, he took a deep breath. "And that is what really happened!"

Lily and James looked at each other, and before Ginny could make them apologize to each other, Lily said mournfully, "James, I'm sorry I wrecked your castle. I know you didn't really mean to break my teapot." She continued her dramatics by looking up at her big brother with her doe-eyes.

James sighed, "Okay, I'm sorry that I broke your teapot. I really meant to hit Al's head instead."

Lily nodded, well used to James's violent tendencies by now, "That's okay." She grinned as she ran over to hug her big brother, who surprisingly hugged her back (though not as exuberantly).

Ginny was torn between awe at her eldest son and baby girl hugging each other without being forced, and shocked at both of their nonchalance when it came to James harming Albus.

She decided to go with a mix of the two, "As sweet as this is, James you are not to harm your brother! Do you hear me?" she said sternly.

James glanced between his mum and brother sheepishly, "Yeah, sure thing Mum. I won't harm a wittle hair on poor Albie's wittle head.

Albus sighed and sat down on the crimson sofa, clearly determined not to respond to James's provocation.

Ginny glared at James again, "James Siri—"

The roaring green flames filling the fireplace interrupted her, and a very familiar voice called out, "Honey, I'm home!"

The children sprung up excitedly. "Dad!" "Hiya, Dad!" "DADDY!" They shouted at the same time. All three of them surrounded their dark-haired father and chattered simultaneously as he brushed the soot off of his robes.

Harry hugged every one of them, and admirably responded to three eagerly asked questions in one breath. As his children told him about their day, Harry looked over their heads and shot a grin at his wife who was watching this scene fondly.

Ginny smiled back at her faithful husband, as the chaotic sound of three kids jabbering all at once reminded her of her childhood. After experiencing the joys of multiple children, Ginny no longer questioned her mother's sanity, as she often did when she was younger and she couldn't even think amongst the noise of six brothers. What her mum always told her was true: The sound of each little voice is truly a treasure, and her own heart was the treasure chest. Ginny laid a hand on her heart, and walked over to put her other hand on her husbands back, content to watch him with their children all evening long.

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- I hope that was satisfactory! I had fun writing it, and please feel free to point out any errors. Constructive criticism and all :) . Reviews are just nice in general, though. Each one in my inbox gives me a fuzzy feeling inside :D

Oh, and who can name the Disney quote hidden in there?


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